Slightly OT: RIP Billionaire Real Estate Mogul Sam Zell UM'63, JD'66
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/equity-residential-mourns-death-founder-142400623.html
Not an AD donor, but helped fund the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies and the MFA in Creative Writing.
Also blew up the Chicago Tribune in a takeover iirc.
I'm pretty sure Helen Zell funded UM programs through divorce settlement money. She funded the MFA not Sam Zell, which is why her name is attached to the program, not their names or his in any way. Sam Zell also earned that money by bleeding to Tribune company dry. Anyway, just wanted to clear that up. Carry on!
Just read that he lost $315 million on the Union Tribune. Probably his worst investment ever. He certainly messed up the UT but didn't gain any money off it.
I'm pretty sure Helen Zell funded UM programs through divorce settlement money.
From a previous marriage? From poking around Google, they were still married at the time of Sam Zell's passing.
yeah, Sam had nothing to do with the money that the Zell foundation donated to U of M, it was all his wife doing it behind his back.....
LOL
Yeah wasn’t the most popular guy here in Chicago with the Trib/Cubs.
Also notable as a vulture capitalist for having purchased Schwinn, extracting all the assets and then selling the husk for less than $100K.
Sounds like a Carl Lindner operation...
Met Sam Zell many years ago. Struck me as an intelligent and charismatic man of dubious integrity. His subsequent endeavors with the Tribune and the Cubs pretty much convinced me to remove the dubious and simply say the man had no integrity.
That is pretty spot-on.
I mean, he called himself the Grave Dancer
I remember seeing him speak at luncheon here in Chicago about 20 years ago. He predicted the end of US manufacturing within a decade (or something along those lines). There were chuckles in the audience. He didn't get that one completely right.
Is this a billionaire people like or don't like? I can't keep track
No. There are no billionaires that we are allowed to like.
Guys, you're forgetting George Soros (wink).
I don't bite the hand that signs my paychecks
I think people still like Rihanna? ~$1.4B according to Forbes?
Also, I think some people are REALLY into Warren Buffett. Other people seem to worship Musk. It has to be like a TRENDY billionaire though...
how about jimmy buffet?
No no no!!
Both Jimmy Buffet and Rhianna made their billions by exploiting people. That's the only way to make money. Dontcha know!!??
Jimmy Buffet, no. Jimmy Buffett, yes.
Mark Cuban?
I wonder if you met a bunch of billionaires, without knowing they were billionaires, what you would think of them. They'd be the exact same people they are, just without the billionaire label. Would be an interesting social science experiment. I wonder if they'd all have some quality, or qualities, common to billionaires. Would the label "billionaire" make you more or less likely to accept certain behaviors?
Most seem extremely unlikeable. A lifetime of extreme privilege with little knowledge of the "common folk" coupled with surrounding themselves with sycophants who laugh at every one of their jokes, makes for a pretty big douchebag.
A certain billionaire a few years ago wondered aloud why laid-off workers couldn't just pay their groceries on a tab if they didn't have enough money. Imagine trying to have a normal conversation with someone so clueless and out-of-touch about modern society and how normal things work.
I find it amusing that people who spend their time bragging about how elite the university they attended is rail about how out of touch billionaires are. Elitist on elitist crime.
I think there's a major difference between succeeding academically and trying to make as much money as possible in an attempt to take over the world.
In an attempt to take over the world? Hmmm.
US government burns through Musk’s self-worth in a few weeks. The difference in possession of material wealth between government and billionaires is enormous. Oh and the government has a massive security apparatus that can kill billions in a matter of minutes.
Your threat assessment skill is dubious.
The government also provides infinitely more value to citizens. I mean just having a situation where there is rule of law and not complete anarchy is effectively priceless.
Also lol at the government killing billions in a matter of minutes. Not even sure where to start with that ridiculously outlandish fear mongering.
Your comparison skills are dubious.
I agree having strong property rights and predictable rule of law is priceless. It is the only reason government legitimately exists. But those rights wouldn't matter without people who produce. Productive people and a government to protect rights are both important.
Some of them have delusions of grandeur and being fabulously wealthy isn't enough for them. Others have been trying to buy our government/politicians/Supreme Court justices and remake the country to their liking.
I think the data shows the vast majority of billionaires are new to this status, so having a lifetime of privilege may not necessarily apply.
I will say this, one of my uber rich investors just gave her kidney to someone less fortunate. Does she still “suck” because she is Uber rich?
I'm not so sure about that. They might not have technically had billions but if I recall correctly many of them- Gates, Musk to name a few - already came from families of means, some of whom had millions of dollars. There are few purely self-made, rags-to-riches billionaires out there.
Your client sounds like a good person. But the reason most people detest billionaires is because many of them seem odd, offputting and solely concerned with money and status, often to the detriment of others. Many of them have no regard for the environment, their workers or their community/country/democracy and on top of it pay zero dollars in taxes. That's what makes them bad people.
The Sacklers gave to philanthropic causes around the world but they are absolutely some of the most horrible people America has ever produced.
You make a good point in that people, especially the uber rich, are complex creatures that require an objective lens with which to judge. Some people are horrible people regardless of wealth.
What I think we all have to understand is that many of the billionaires we hate are billionaires because of you and I on this very blog. Jeff Bezos is billionaire not because of some corrupt government subsidy, but rather because of us, the consumer. Same goes for Larry Page (go blue!), Sam Zell, etc.
1. Who cares if someone came from poverty? It does not matter at all. The American Dream is to have each generation be better than the previous. I want to give my kids every advantage.
2. The overwhelming majority of billionaires got they way by serving humanity by delivering products and services people voluntarily pay for. Jeff Bezos, Charles Koch, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison all got that way by serving others.
3. Rich people pay almost all of the taxes. Not just in absolute dollar terms but pay 2.5 times the effective rate as the median income earner. That includes all income like capital gains and includes all taxes (capital gains, ordinary income, and payroll taxes). The idea that rich people don't pay taxes is a talking point that no thinking person across the political spectrum agrees with. It is a fever brain idea pushed by Pro Publica who don't understand that appreciation in an asset is not income.
Here is from the Tax Policy Center which is part of the Brookings/Urban Institute https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/federal-taxes-are-very-progressive
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/02/us-taxes-really-are-unusually-progressive/252917/
I have no problem with the uber rich unless they are so out of touch that they think everyone who isn't super rich is beneath them. It's not the money per se, it's what comes with money. I've spent a good amount of time around people with multiple large homes, private jets, more money than they can spend in a lifetime, etc....It definitely affects you. It isolates you from the rest of the world. So if someone can both make a ton of money and still be down-to-earth, more power to them.
I think the data shows the vast majority of billionaires are new to this status
The data shows the exact opposite. The vast majority of billionaires come from very rich and privileged families.
I will say this, one of my uber rich investors just gave her kidney to someone less fortunate.
One billionaire did something nice. That's great. It doesn't invalidate any of the points I made about most being weird and unlikeable.
It has been a while since I have seen updated stats but last time I looked, 80% of the billionaires came from the middle class. Wealth is fleeting and it rarely lasts through two generations of inheritance. The few billionaires and more millionaires that I have met with an opportunity for conversation, usually at Christmas/holiday parties and Memorial Day barbecues have been most pleasant. I particularly enjoyed the story about the hire of a guy that was telling all kinds of humble brag stories including one about dating a supermodel. Yeah right, a supermodel. Only to find said supermodel waiting for him in the lobby. She was also reported to be quite nice making friends with everyone while waiting for the boyfriend.
Mark Cuban, Jordan too after all we’re endorsing his brand. Robert Smith seems like a good guy.
Hey, people are free to lick the rich man's boot all they want. I'm not obliged to agree or respect you for your choices.
So liking someone = licking their boots?
Personally I think that it is impossible to achieve billionaire status without being a complete bag of shit.
What do I know? I'm just a guy with thumbs and a phone
You know what. I don’t necessarily disagree with you. I started my company with several wealthy investors, so I know several people in the $100m-$500m wealth range. My venture is still very early, but I know that making a venture work requires making some really hard decisions that could be misconstrued as being a “bag of shit”.
Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep better at night.
You're ok in my book
Thank you!! I can now sleep better because of you
You seem like a billionaire
Yea. Come take a look at my 2200 sqft house and tell me I seem like a billionaire
Does this include Oprah? I never see anyone attacking her for being a billionaire.
That idiot brought Dr Phil and Dr Oz to the world. She can go straight to h-e-double hockey sticks with the rest of them
What's wrong with Dr Phil?
You get a car, you get a car! Pretty generous lady.
I spent nearly 20 years in big tech before calling it quits (at least temporarily) last year. I have good friends in the ultra high net worth category, and have worked closely with several “super rich”people prior to them being in that bracket. What I can say is most of them changed a lot the richer they became. More entitled, more paranoid, and just plain shittier. So, I don’t believe you have to be an asshole to become a billionaire, but I do believe being a billionaire is likely going to make you an asshole.
This also applies to activists, politicians, lawyers, doctors, philosophers, writers, entertainers, athletes, etc.
No, engaging in a cult of personality worship of billionaires is licking their boots.
Your false equivalence is pretty obviously not what was meant by the comment you responded to.